"I can't believe he ditched us," Ayaka exclaimed, affronted.
Amami sighed from beside her with exasperation. Hinata looked equally mock upset, though she tried to hide the worried light in her eyes.
"I know right? I didn't expect this from Gakushuu," she sighed mock-disappointedly. Ren gave her a look that said 'stop encouraging her'.
Hinata gave him a sweet smile in return. It didn't look threatening at all, and that's what made it so threatening. She had learnt to weaponize her own smile.
Kimiko had a proud look on her face, completely unlike the discussions, quiet or otherwise, happening around her. Ren rolled his eyes and looked at Anaya for help.
Surprisingly, Mori was quiet. As someone who generally took loud and expressive pleasure in putting down Gakushuu for his faults, it was odd.
Class A was gathered at the airport, right before their flight to Orlando. Unlike the beach trip that they had given up to class E, it was paid solely by Gakushuu as compensation.
Most had been unwilling to accept it, but it was compensation because they had lost on a technically that only Gakushuu accepted. The loss had only been accepted because people were aware that class E as a whole was being suspicious and their trust in Gakushuu.
But the message that Gakushuu sent so close to their departure just told them that he was stuck. And whatever it was, he didn't want them involved.
Which sucked.
They were standing around complaining and pretending like Gakushuu was going to show up any moment but everyone was simply worried.
Even Ren seemed unwilling to actually get on the flight, spamming his friend with messages like they were going to do anything.
Gakushuu had sent an automated message, which meant he wasn't anywhere close to the phone. He probably wasn't even contactable.
And yet.
"He's the one who told us this was a class trip!" Ayaka protested loudly, genuinely upset. No one refuted her. "If he hadn't promised me that we were going to the Harry Potter Universal Studios, I wouldn't even have come! If I knew he was going to be a no-show, I should have just gone to Universal Studios in Japan!"
"So you were planning to go to Universal Studios anyway?" Kazuki sweatdropped.
"Of course!! The whole class would have a chunk of time free for it anyway!" She rolled her eyes at him. Anaya's lips twitched.
"How about thi-" Anaya started.
"Fuck this!" Mori growled, grabbing Miya by his arm and walking off towards their plane's boarding.
"Hey wait!" Hinata called out, surprised. "What are you doing?"
Mori stopped, then turned to face the class with an irritated look.
"He said he isn't coming. We can't help from here and we don't even know what the problem is because we don't know. But what I do know is that he is one determined son of a bitch okay?"
"Language," Ren pressed his lips into a line of displeasure.
"Whatever." Mori responded with a sneer. "I'm just saying I'm going to use this free ride I have, and when I come back the great Asano Gakushuu will probably see us in school looking like he usually does and irritate us all by being the goddamn overachiever he is. So stop moping around and get on."
The class stared at him silently.
"Wow. That's the most I've seen you praise Gakushuu," Hinata clapped in awe.
"Shut up," Mori frowned. "It's not like I hate the guy."
"He is a pretty hard guy to dislike, I'm just surprised you're actually admitting it," Kimiko spoke, a knowing smirk on her lips.
She had been one of the first to get on Gakushuu's side in the school after all. Moreover, she hadn't even been in his class when she had.
"I'm surprised you ever admitted it either, yakuza," Mori looked down at her with a disgusted twist on his lips. Kimiko smirked, lifting her chin towards Hinata.
"And who's the one who's got a girlfriend for it?" She rubbed in. Mori's eyes twitched towards Miya before he glared at Kimiko.
"You bit-"
"As I was saying," Anaya loudly interrupted the brewing argument before the conversation could be derailed any further, "I think we should go and have fun on this trip. I'm sure we can arrange for another next year. We have managed to make time every year till now."
Ren snorted disbelievingly whispering, "It's only been 2 years-" and Anaya slapped his arm to shut him up.
"Yeah okay. Let's go then," Kimiko spoke up, rolling her eyes, moving away from the confrontation with Mori to grab Hinata's hand pointedly. Mori growled.
The rest of class gathered up. At first, hesitantly then more hurriedly. They might miss the flight if they were too late after all.
And then they were off to Orlando.
Class E was suspicious.
The festival was fine and all, but Karma??? Out with a girl???
And not just any girl, but the girl who was nowhere to be found even when her picture was posted all over Kunugigaoka. They hadn't even been able to wrench a name out from Karma's mouth.
Their only option was to "accidentally" meet them and find out. But the problem with that was-
The students looked in unison at the couple laughing as they held hands, their heads tilted only towards the other, stuck in their own bubble as they talked about something.
The girl grabbed a pair of fox ears and placed them on Karma's head, Karma checked himself out, giving an approving look, before grabbing bunny ears for her. She shook her head and Karma grinned mischievously.
He tried to put it on her head and she ducked and weaved, blocking or redirecting his arms as she giggled. He finally placed it on her just as she hit the back of Karma's knees with a heel.
He collapsed on her, and she somehow managed to hold him up. They looked at each other with a slight blush and she placed a soft kiss on Karma's cheeks as an apology. Karma fixed the band, and smiled.
Then, they held hands and went to the next stall while the stall owner sighed happily, looking at the couple leaving.
"Such a cute couple," she said, smiling.
Class E deadpanned.
How were they supposed to even interrupt something like that??
Rio laughed maniacally as she took dozens of pictures of the two being cute from a distance. Kayano clasped her hands in front of her chest, looking at the two with hearts in her eyes.
Koro-sensei's body double nurufufu'd as he tried to take cute pictures while still managing about 10 stalls at the same time.
Nagisa sighed.
After a while Koro-sensei body double disappeared from view, maybe he was being sneaky but they lost sight of Karma and the girl soon after, and looking at the time, they could tell why.
"The fireworks are about to start," Nagisa said aloud. Kayano beside him smiled, as she looked up at the sky.
"We should go then," she said, looking at the direction they had last seen Karma and his girlfriend. It was too bad they couldn't talk to her, but they had seen Karma acting completely unlike how he normally did, and that would have to be enough.
Everyone else who had gathered together for the couple stalking sighed, disappointed but didn't try to go find Karma again.
They wouldn't be able to if even Koro-sensei had chosen to leave them alone…or maybe he hadn't. But it was pretty good to watch fireworks with the rest of class E anyway.
And so everyone gathered up into their spots, with snacks and their things and looked up.
The fireworks burst across the sky brightly, lighting up one after another, and they watched the stars dim and the bright lights fill the darkness with brightness.
They talked among themselves, forming small groups as they spread out.
On the other side of the festival, Gakushuu opened her eyes to the bright lights sparking up in the sky, and Karma behind her.
Their hands tangled together, and peace filled her.
Life was about being busy, about doing the next thing. It was what Gakushuu had always known. There were always things to do, people to know and even more people to make time for.
It wasn't bad because she liked both people and doing things. But she finally understood what it meant for time to just stop, to just stand still and stay .
From the beginning, Karma had been one of the first who Gakushuu hadn't held any expectations for, and as Karma always did, he returned it by not holding any for Gakushuu either.
She didn't always like Karma, in the beginning. There were times when she used to get irritated by her own intrigue of the other boy. When his attitude rubbed her wrong, when she disliked the things that Karma made her think, made her realise about her own father. She didn't like the way Karma stopped her from running away from herself.
He didn't like the way she always noticed Karma. The way she noticed he stayed a little more around the areas Gakushuu frequented, the way Karma would wait for her, looking like he hadn't been waiting at all. She didn't like the way she catalogued Karma's reactions towards her.
But as time went on, the more she found her attention riveting onto Karma like a moth to flame, like nothing could hold her attention when Karma was in the same room.
She liked the way Karma made her feel wanted instead of needed, the way he welcomed Gakushuu when he had almost no reason to, and similarly, Gakushuu had never tried to get anything from Karma.
It was a novel feeling.
Unlike even Ren, his father or anyone in his class, Gakushuu hadn't had a purpose any time he had been with Karma. Both of them had provided unasked for help, advice and talks. They nosed into the other's business slowly and surely until Gakushuu couldn't even call Karma anything but an honest friend.
They never lied to each other, mostly because there was no need but also because there wasn't any point. They could spot lies from a mile away and it was far more effort than it was worth.
Perhaps, it was her first healthy relationship.
Gakushuu tilted her head to look at Karma, who had already been staring at Gakushuu. His eyes sparkled gold, lit up with flecks of light, reflecting the fireworks.
Karma was facing the fireworks, so his face lit up brightly every time, throwing in shadows that only made him look even more beautiful.
She remembered that time she had seen Karma leaning on the wall before their first fight, and her heart had stuttered in her chest just like it was doing right then.
But what was even better than Karma's gorgeous face, was the warmth in his face. He looked at Gakushuu like she was the most beautiful thing Karma had ever seen, would ever see.
"I thought you came here for the fireworks," Karma whispered into her ear, as she kept staring at him. She fluttered her eyes at him.
"Is that really what you thought?" She asked, missing the teasing tone by a mile, becoming more honest instead, "Because I came for you."
"Funny," Karma let their foreheads touch gently, " I thought I was coming for you, instead." She laughed, feeling Karma's eyelashes flutter against her cheeks as she did.
"Is my girlfriend laughing at me?" He teased, and she abruptly choked on her laughter. She flushed.
Girlfriend.
Karma certainly knew how to throw her off.
"I'll get you in a dress too, one day," she threatened, and Karma pressed a soft kiss against her cheek.
"I'm sure I can pull it off," he teased.
"I'm sure you can too," she grumbled.
Karma laughed.
Her fingers tightened around his. Karma laughing made her stomach heat up with warmth, a reflexive smile formed on her face as she waited for his laughter to slow. He opened his golden eyes and looked at her fondly.
His grip on her tightened and she melted.
She melted like hot wax every time he looked at her like that. It felt like her spine was about to leak out from her ears, and she would fall and fall and never stop falling. Maybe she would never want to stop falling.
Just as long as he kept looking at her like that.
It had been 2 years and counting since they first met. It had been months since they had unsubtly confessed to the other. They hadn't even seen each other for a long while during the summer.
And yet.
And yet.
Gakushuu closed her eyes, feeling more helpless in the face of her own feelings than ever before, and yet, she had never felt more like she could conquer the world.
Gakushuu gave him the ability, Chiho gave her the will.
But it was Karma who made it worth it.
Future wasn't worth thinking about, obsessing over or worrying about.
In that little moment caught between time, she was just happy to have Karma right there beside her.